Zachania (64 page)

The beast
tilted its head as it just stood silently looking at Talon.

“My name is
Talon……..I was sent by Apollo.” Talon thought trying to communicate
with his mind.

The beast
growled and shook its head as if it was confused.

“Can you
understand me?” added Talon with his mind.

Then Talon
tensed as he felt something enter his mind, at first it felt like a
heavy blow which made him feel disorientated, Talon blinked his
eyes hard trying to clarify what was happening in his mind, and
then he felt the creature’s thoughts.

“I am Braaksa,
you must follow me.”

Talon stiffened
as he realised that he made contact, he had succeeded in
communicating with the beast that was now on all fours and seemed
to be inviting Talon to get onto its back. Slowly Talon moved
closer still feeling apprehension he climbed onto the beast.

Talon held onto
the beast’s thick hair on its back as it began to walk away, slowly
at first making sure Talon was comfortable until it burst into a
sprint which took Talon’s breath away at the speed it was
travelling. Talon could feel the branches whipping and scratching
his arms as the beast galloped across the forest, Talon lowered
himself and held on frantically as the beasts was dodging trees and
making huge leaps over rivers and broken trees.

Talon began to
wonder where he was being taken too as they ventured deeper into
the dense forest, then in the distance Talon saw an opening in the
forest, moments later they broke into the daylight and entered a
huge valley that was filled with strange looking dwellings, where
Talon saw hundreds of beasts, ‘Apollo was right this a vast
civilisation’, as they ran into the valley Talon could feel the
hundreds of eyes upon him, they made their way to the largest
wooden building where they stopped, Talon climbed down and began to
feel fear as hordes of the beasts started to gather around, Talon
could feel their eyes burning into him and sense the savage nature
from them.

Then a door
opened and an old but immensely strong looking beast appeared and
walked over, Talon lifted his head to look up, his eyes caught
glimpse of a huge stone pendant that adorned the beast, Talon could
see that the pendent had the markings of Apollo inscribed upon
it.

The beast
walked towards Talon and reached out its large hand, Talon
stiffened as the beast touched Talon’s own pendent, then he lowered
its large head to get a better look, moments later the beast gently
rested his arm and ushered Talon into the dwelling.

Once inside
Talon sat down on the floor opposite the beast waiting to see what
would happen, Baaksa the beast that had carried Talon to the town
also sat down and began to make low growl like noises to the
leader, they tilted their heads and turned back and forth to Talon
which made Talon think it was obvious they were having some kind of
conversation about him, shortly after the elder beast turned to
Talon and winced, then Talon felt the feeling he had felt before as
he heard thoughts enter his head.

“I am
Quankow……I am Lord of this tribe, my son Baaksa has told me you are
a messenger of Apollo.”

Talon nodded
and concentrated replying with his mind.

“My name is
Talon, I am a member of the great counsel of Zachania, my people
are fighting the Empire as we speak, Apollo asked me to travel here
and seek your help.”

Quankow stirred
and then replied.

“I see the
markings of Apollo on you but we will see if you speak his
words.”

Talon stiffened
at the leader’s remark, slowly he rose to his feet and very
cautiously he pulled out his sword.

“Is the sword
of Apollo the proof you seek.” Talon thought before very carefully
placing it on the ground between them.

Quankow waved
his hand as if he was not impressed.

“Swords and
pendants mean nothing; your mind holds the truth.”

“What is it I
must do?”

“Enter the
inner circle, then we will know who you really are.” replied
Quankow pushing his thoughts sternly into Talon’s head.

“Then take me
to this inner circle now, my people are dying as we speak.” replied
Talon frustrated and getting to his feet.

Talon was then
led outside and escorted to a circle of stones which had a strange
coloured crystal sat on a large pedestal in the centre, Talon was
ushered into the circle as the beasts gathered around outside. Once
inside Talon turned and face Quankow, Talon looked at him with
determination as if to say get on with it.

Quankow then
moved closer and reached out his huge arms towards the sky, moments
later Talon heard his thoughts enter his head.

“Walk upon the
inner circle and open your heart, if you speak the truth then
Apollo’s wishes will be obeyed, if you have lied to us then you
will be engulfed by flames and your soul will be sent to the
Sarakask depths of Kratos.”

Talon walked
into the centre of the circle and stood next to the crystal, he
turned to look at Quankow who began to back away slightly, Talon
raised his arms in a gesture of frustration just before he started
to feel his legs tingle. Talon turned to the crystal as suddenly he
felt a warm glow emitting from it, then his legs began to tremble
as the intensity of the heat coming from the crystal increased,
soon the whole circle was glowing, the beasts backed away further
as Talon found himself trapped and unable to move, the heat now was
making Talon sweat as he gritted his teeth in determination, he
wanted to call out but he knew this was some kind of test so he bit
his lip and held his resolve as the heat got hotter and hotter,
Talon then suddenly shaded his eyes as a flash of light burst into
the sky from the crystal, Talon cried out as he felt like he was
being crushed by the blinding light, then Talon was lifted into the
air, he threw his arms back and shouted out again, it was a shout
of determination where he used all of his strength to withstand the
pressure and pain.

Talon began to
shake violently but he refused to call out for help, the beasts
were now cowering away as thick dark storm clouds moved across the
sky, then with a deafening bang a bolt of lightning struck the
crystal, the beasts turned their heads from the blinding heat and
light, when they turned back they saw Talon was now laying on the
ground coughing and struggling to get to his feet, the light from
the crystal had now disappeared and the storm clouds that were
above were now gone.

Quankow slowly
entered the circle to see Talon, he walked very hesitantly as he
looked at Talon and then the sky, then he looked at the crystal and
to his disbelief he saw it had been cracked, he suddenly felt
horrified at what had just happened.

Talon rose to
his feet before him, there was a look of rage upon his face.

“Apollo is not
pleased with you Quankow, he told me to remind you when he found
you dying and gave you a drink from the well of the Gods, he gave
you eternal life and you repay him with doubting his messenger.”
Talon said using his mind.

Quankow
listened to Talon’s thoughts in his mind and realised that what
Talon was saying was only known by himself and Apollo, Quankow
turned his head slightly as he took in what he had just seen and
heard, then he dropped to his knees paying homage to Talon, seeing
their leader humbling himself before Talon, the surrounding beasts
followed their leaders action.

Talon now
raised his head as all around him he saw the beasts on their knees
with their heads bowed, whatever had just happened, Talon now knew
that he had their respect.

“I am yours to
command.” Quankow then said to Talon.

Talon walked
across and lifted the leader to his feet.

“Order your
tribe to be ready to march by nightfall” Talon replied before
leading Quankow back into the leaders dwelling.

“We must reach
Death Valley within four days or the Zachanian army will be
defeated.” Talon said as soon as they were inside.

“Where is Death
Valley?” replied Quankow.

Talon then
realised just how long these beasts had been isolated within the
Forest of Deceit, they have lived here hidden long before Death
Valley was ever given a name.

“Quankow, what
do you know of the wars of Kratos?”

“We have been
here centuries, what has happened outside this realm we do not
know.”

“Do you know of
the Empire?”

“We know of its
existence, Apollo told me a long time ago that they joined with our
ancient enemy, the Degrain’s and that the Zachanian’s were at war
with them.”

“That war ended
centuries ago, we were defeated but now we have returned.”

“And the
Degrain’s” replied Quankow showing disdain on his face as he
thought the name Degrain’s.

“The Degrain’s
were defeated by the Empire, now they are rarely talked about, I
know that the Empire had been experimenting with their bloodlines
for centuries but any talk about them is forbidden, why are you so
interested in the Degrain’s Quankow, I can see the emotion in your
face when you mentioned their name.”

Quankow reached
out for a drink before he replied.

“Thousands of
years before the Zachanian’s, there were three great tribes in
Kratos, us, the Degrain’s and the Tusarian’s, the Tusarian’s are
your ancestors and they were conquered by Degrain, what was left of
the Tusarian’s fled to Zachania, when the Tusarian’s were defeated
the Degrain’s and our race battled each other to point of
extinction, thousands of years passed where we were at war with
them.”

“Were you
defeated?”

“They out bred
us, we could not withstand their numbers, generation after
generation more Degrain monsters entered Kratos and fought against
us.”

“How were you
outnumbered Quankow.”

“We are like
your race Talon, the females of our race usually give birth to only
one child but the Degrain give birth in litters, a Degrainian
female can spawn ten or more infants, as the years passed they
quickly outnumbered us.”

“What was your
relationship with the Tusarian’s?”

“We were their
friends, they were a great race, they built towns and villages
across island, the Tusarian’s did not want war but they were forced
to fight.” replied Quankow who was interrupted by his son Braaksa
who informed him that he had told his tribe to ready to leave at
sunset.

“Tonight we
will be at war again Talon.” Quankow added solemnly.

King Arun was
exhausted, for the past five days the Zachanian front lines had
been constantly pounded by the Empire, Zachanian’s casualties were
building in their thousands and Arun was struggling to defend
against the relentless attacks. The pressure was also shared by
Ganasis who had been in a nonstop battle of his own against Grarlin
and the Empires wizards, Ganasis had been using all his magical
skills to the nullify the spells of flames, earthquakes and storms
that Grarlin had been summoning onto the battlefield.

“What I
wouldn’t give for one nights decent rest.” Arun sighed as he
slumped himself down onto the ground after returning from the front
lines after another savage day of battle.

The King was
exhausted both mentally and physically, today’s fighting had been a
repeat of the past five days where the Empire would advance and the
Zachanian’s would advance to meet them, they would battle for half
a day and then the Empire would retreat and the Zachanian’s would
retreat leaving the battlefield littered with dead and dying
soldiers. The only difference in today was that there was no magic
used as both armies wizards rested from exhaustion. King Arun was
in mixed emotions, the initial fear of the magic had passed and in
its absence today the fighting was relentless, no respite, just a
continued onslaught of murder.

When nightfall
fell King Arun once again sat down to meet with his council to
discuss the battle, as the King sat down he could barely find the
strength to talk, his face looked as if he doubled its age in five
days, gone was the boyish and optimistic look and in its place was
a puffy tired scowl.

Seated next to
the King as usual was Ganasis who was more slumped than seated, his
old grey haired head was slumped on his chest as he looked too
tired to lift it, the other Lords were all present except Lord
Zalon who was still in Zachania, Lords Heikan, Tanaga, Zargar and
Krazmos all sat with the same posture except Heikan was still
showing signs of enthusiasm and determination. As the Lords waited
for the King to begin, Lord Heikan started to talk by once again
asking the King for permission to lead his own army on a separate
attack.

“Sire I implore
you, let me take my warriors and attack the Empire from the east”
he shouted as he banged his fist onto the table.

King Arun
turned violently towards his Lord and out of tiredness lost his own
composure.

“I will have
order in this room! I will not have remarks shouted at me from
across the table.” he shouted back as he banged his own hand
loudly.

“Heikan control
your temper! It would be better suited to helping your King rather
than fighting his every suggestion.” snapped Ganasis suddenly
roused and angered from his slumber.

Lord Heikan bit
his lip and lifted his hands to the air in frustration; tempers
were on the brink of breaking as the stress of battle was having
its toll on everyone. Heikan wanted to argue his point, he was a
fierce fighting man, proud and bombastic and it was frustrating him
greatly that he was not being listened to, Heikan then took a deep
breath as he decided he would quell his temper and try to use his
cunning and guile. It was pointless to keep shouting, so after
composing himself he replied, only this time carefully trying not
to sound so abrupt.

“Sire, our men
are dying in their thousands, we cannot withstand this trade-off
for much longer, we are greatly outnumbered by the Empire, if we
have any ambition for this war then we cannot allow that ambition
to be taken from us on this battlefield, if we continue fighting in
this way then I fear that even in victory we will desecrate our
army. The Empire want to end this war, here and now, if they do not
beat us here then they want us so weakened we will be unable to
advance any further into Kratos. I suggest we attack them on their
flank and separate them from their superiors, if we isolate them
from the chain of command then we break their discipline, we break
their discipline and we take away their strength.”